Fun on a budget- My 96 Sierra 2500 454

Amsterdamned96 said:

Try an ultrasonic cleaner (if you can borrow one) and wear & tear kit for your injector issues, if you can salvage them you may save a hundred bucks or so.
You might need a breadboard and lab power supply to do the cleaning properly (to get the right signal for opening/closing).
Often jeweler’s or people that deal in valuable second-hand trinkets will have one.
Best of luck, I’m doing my build similarly and will begin posting again in months to come.

Click to expand...

454C2500Longbed said:

In Early December, I bought my first truck, this Sierra for $1800 with 177K on the odometer. It looked good in the pictures on marketplace, not quite as much when I went to look at it, but the rumble of the 454 made it impossible to resist. So here I am, making this truck as good as I can on the budget of a high schooler. Here's what the truck looked like when I brought it home. Took off the one running board and mounts the day after I took the pictures.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

I noticed it was dogwalking when I pulled it into the gas station right after buying it. Went home and discovered this amazingness.

You must be registered for see images attach

Welp, new leaf spring time. You may also notice that it used to have dual exhaust until the right pipe rusted off the muffler. Soo, ordered up a new leaf spring and exhaust kit, got a Cherry Bomb Salute (Magnaflow style) and 2.5 inch pipes out the back. It sounds much better and drives straighter now. Still drives crooked, I believe the front leaf spring hanger is bent, I'm having a guy with an alignment rack check the truck out. I replaced that rusty bumper and am cleaning up the brush guard a bit. I will take some better pictures once I get that all buttoned up.

Problem I'm battling right now is the well known hot start issue. It left me and my buddy stranded at Culver's, come back a few hours later and it started right up, but started stuttering while driving, then it got better, then it stuttered again. Soooo it's time for injectors, and then I'll need a tune, so I think I'll just bite the bullet and get JET DST and learn how to tune my truck. It needs more power anyway. It'll get a moderate cam at some point down the road, EGR delete, headers, and whatever else I decide it needs.

Big thing is paint! My grandpa used to be a body and paint man, and he said he would help me paint it in his driveway this summer, so I look forward to that, it'll make the truck look so much better. Wheels will also be blasted and painted black, the trim rings shined, and I have center caps off a Chevy to put on, so I'll get some GMC stick on logos to put on in place of the Chevy ones. It looks like I'll need body mounts in the future, but I don't really feel like doing them at the moment. I will replace the rusty fender as soon as I can get a clean one. Also need to get the one piece of trim to put back on. Oh, and it's getting a new windshield when I get the rear end alignment checked out.

If anyone has any ideas or input, please let me know! I love to learn anything about these trucks that you guys have to offer.

Click to expand...

keckerjr said:

I have a 1996 K 1500, 5.7 engine that had intermittent starting problems a few years ago. My son got stranded a couple times on the road.

After MUCH investigation, the problem turned out to be the distributor cap which is prone to moisture, specifically the fifth cylinder spark plug wire [in the back nearest the firewall on that application].

I learned to keep that area dry and check for good spark [and fuel] whenever working on my engine.

Above all. have fun with your truck !

Click to expand...

454C2500Longbed said:

Yeah, we just had a C3500 with a 350 in the shop and the cap was nasty on that thing. I'll probably go ahead and grab a new cap and rotor on Rock Auto and replace that while I have the upper plenum off to do the injectors.
Thank you sir, appreciate it!

Click to expand...

HotWheelsBurban said:

The UMP cap and rotor that Rock Auto has are what I use on both my Vortecs. That vent lets any humidity that accumulates while the truck is parked, get out so it doesn't keep it from starting or running well. I've gotten stuck in the Burb before, and it's no fun anytime to have to crawl under the hood and pull the cap and rotor out and clean them. Last time was at 4am after working a late night work project, had to work by Maglite in a deserted grocery store parking lot.
After installing the new UMP vented cap and rotor that have brass contacts, we can drive our trucks in pouring rain and have no issues with them running.

Click to expand...

454C2500Longbed said:

In Early December, I bought my first truck, this Sierra for $1800 with 177K on the odometer. It looked good in the pictures on marketplace, not quite as much when I went to look at it, but the rumble of the 454 made it impossible to resist. So here I am, making this truck as good as I can on the budget of a high schooler. Here's what the truck looked like when I brought it home. Took off the one running board and mounts the day after I took the pictures.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

I noticed it was dogwalking when I pulled it into the gas station right after buying it. Went home and discovered this amazingness.

You must be registered for see images attach

Welp, new leaf spring time. You may also notice that it used to have dual exhaust until the right pipe rusted off the muffler. Soo, ordered up a new leaf spring and exhaust kit, got a Cherry Bomb Salute (Magnaflow style) and 2.5 inch pipes out the back. It sounds much better and drives straighter now. Still drives crooked, I believe the front leaf spring hanger is bent, I'm having a guy with an alignment rack check the truck out. I replaced that rusty bumper and am cleaning up the brush guard a bit. I will take some better pictures once I get that all buttoned up.

Problem I'm battling right now is the well known hot start issue. It left me and my buddy stranded at Culver's, come back a few hours later and it started right up, but started stuttering while driving, then it got better, then it stuttered again. Soooo it's time for injectors, and then I'll need a tune, so I think I'll just bite the bullet and get JET DST and learn how to tune my truck. It needs more power anyway. It'll get a moderate cam at some point down the road, EGR delete, headers, and whatever else I decide it needs.

Big thing is paint! My grandpa used to be a body and paint man, and he said he would help me paint it in his driveway this summer, so I look forward to that, it'll make the truck look so much better. Wheels will also be blasted and painted black, the trim rings shined, and I have center caps off a Chevy to put on, so I'll get some GMC stick on logos to put on in place of the Chevy ones. It looks like I'll need body mounts in the future, but I don't really feel like doing them at the moment. I will replace the rusty fender as soon as I can get a clean one. Also need to get the one piece of trim to put back on. Oh, and it's getting a new windshield when I get the rear end alignment checked out.

If anyone has any ideas or input, please let me know! I love to learn anything about these trucks that you guys have to offer.

Click to expand...

tybcr783 said:

Hey man, just read through the thread and like your plans for the truck. I too am in highschool and have a C2500 ( with the 350 ). There's a lot to learn and valuable knowledge on this forum and people have provided me help on several occasions. Anyways your build thread is going to be sick ( need to make one for mine ).

Click to expand...

454C2500Longbed said:

Got the injectors put in today. Man, why is there so much crap attached to the upper plenum? EGR tube came off decently easy, but I think I broke it? Maybe? Doesn't matter either way, it's getting deleted on soon. I was pretty careful with everything, but ended up breaking one of the injector clip mounts.

You must be registered for see images attach

Oh well, that's what zip ties are for. Other than that, everything went smoothly and only dropped 37.86 things into the lower plenum (no painters tape on hand, did use rags for some of the time).

Cap and rotor were pretty awful, not the worst I've seen though.

You must be registered for see images attach

Hard to see unless you zoom in, but the end of that strip is super chewed up. The cap is corroded as well, cleaned it up for now. That spark has got to be jumping a gap the size of the Grand Canyon, it's amazing that it runs as well as it does. IT'S A BIG BLOCK, THAT'S WHY!!
Anyhow, got the pressure tester on just to confirm and it was perfect, right at about 56 psi. Fired up instantly and ran great. Thanks to @Mangonesailor for the injector info in the Official Vortec 454 info thread and to @Carlaisle for confirming that the 96 4.6 Mustang injectors are a perfect fit. I'll take a win when I can get it!

Click to expand...

HotWheelsBurban said:

UMP vented cap and rotor is what you need here..... Rock Auto has them as a set for around $30 IIRC. Well worth it, they last and perform way better than the original style because they have brass contacts and the vent lets humidity and moisture escape. I'm running these on both my 350 Vortecs, they're one of the best upgrades for the money.
And no I don't get any commission on them, I just like to let people know that it's a great product for our trucks.

Click to expand...